Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review : Five Hours of Extra Content on Iki Island, director’s Cut , which was released in mid-August, is the latest PlayStation Studios release that tries to update and complete the initial version of Ghost of Tsushima. The update is delivered through the addition of features, the majority of which can only be enjoyed by owners of the PlayStation 5 (PS5) console. Meanwhile, the completion of the story is delivered through a side-story that takes place in Ikishima, a small island southeast of Tsushima.
From these two things, the side-story in Ikishima is clearly the main selling point of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review : Five Hours of Extra Content on Iki Island . Like most popular culture products that bear the Director’s Cut label , the story in Ikishima aims to provide more complete information about the story of Ghost of Tsushima . This information certainly cannot be mandatory, but provides added value if played.
Ikishima time setting depends on how far gamers have played the main story of Ghost of Tsushima . If gamers have already finished the initial version of Ghost of Tsushima , then a number of dialogues or clues will lead to the story of Ikishima taking place after the fall of Khotun Khan. Khotun Khan, cousin of Kublai Khan and grandson of Genghis Khan, is the main antagonist of the Ghost of Tsushima saga .
Meanwhile, if gamers have not finished the initial version, the dialogue will emphasize the ongoing Mongol invasion of Tsushima. Even so, gamers must reach the Toyotama point in the main story of Ghost of Tsushima first before being able to access Iki.
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review : Five Hours of Extra Content on Iki Island
Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut Review : Five Hours of Extra Content on Iki Island
Side-story Ikishima (Iki) dimulai ketika tokoh utama Ghost of Tsushima, Jin Sakai, mendapat kabar bahwa invasi Mongol telah mencapai Iki. Di sana, invasi dipimpin oleh seorang shaman (dukun) dengan nama sandi The Eagle. Mengingat Iki begitu dekat dengan daratan utama Jepang, Jin harus mencegahnya untuk memastikan Mongol tidak melakukan penetrasi lebih jauh ke jantung negeri matahari.
Iki sendiri, bagi Jin Sakai, memiliki catatan tersendiri. Ayahnya, Kazumasa Sakai, tewas di sana. Dalam invasi samurai ke Ikishima belasan tahun silam, para nelayan Iki berhasil memukul mundur pasukan ayah Jin. Adapun Kazumasa mati tepat di depan mata Jin dan ia terus menyalahkan dirinya karena gagal menyelamatkan sang ayah.
Perjalanan Jin ke Iki tidak sepenuhnya lancar. Kapalnya dihajar badai, memisahkan ia dari kuda tunggangannya. Sesampainya di Iki, ia kalah dikeroyok pasukan Mongol yang kemudian membawanya ke The Eagle. The Eagle, tahu Jin adalah anak Kazumasa, memutuskan untuk menerornya secara psikologis dengan memberinya ramuan hipnotis. Ramuan itu akan membawa Jin ke masa-masa traumatis dalam hidupnya, mengulangnya berkali-kali agar ia kehilangan semangat hidup.
Side-story Ikishima akan berfokus pada perjalanan Jin berdamai dengan masa lalunya. Dengan kata lain, side-story Ikishima adalah sebuah studi karakter, dekonstruksi dari karakter Jin Sakai. Gamer bakal melihat apa saja yang membentuk karakter Jin Sakai sebagai samurai (dan kemudian ninja). Tidak semuanya positif. Jin lahir dari keluarga berdarah dingin dan ada banyak tubuh bergelimpingan atas ulah klannya. Gamer bakal melihat konflik antara Jin dengan nelayan-nelayan pulau Iki.
With a game duration of approximately five hours, Ikishima ‘s side-story offers a lot more than a story. Gamers will find new quests to get new armor, both for Jin and his mount. There are also more and more mini games, ranging from archery challenges, duel challenges using a bokken (wooden sword), to rhythmic games using a Jin flute.
Of the three mini games, the duel with bokken is the most exciting. Gamers will face Iki champions and must be able to touch them with bokken five times. Those who reach five points first are the winners. The difficulty is, these champions are smart in that they will change their attack and defense styles throughout the duel. The duel with the samurai in the previous version of the game is nothing compared to this new mini game.
The developer of Ghost of Tsushima , Sucker Punch, did not forget to improve the quality of the Mongol troops that gamers would face. Now they are tougher, more aggressive, and have added defense from shamans who chant throughout the fight. As a result, defenses that were previously easy to penetrate with several attacks or perfect replies become more difficult to break down. The shaman itself, in one battle, can be more than one.
Well, because the enemies in Ikishima are more difficult, the developer of Sucker Punch will give a warning to gamers when they want to access the Ikishima side-story. That way, gamers won’t be surprised if they keep losing and can’t go back to Tsushima for grinding . It’s better to separate the save side-story of Ikishima from the main-story of Tsushima.
Especially for PlayStation 5 owners , will get additional features that take advantage of the sophistication of the console. One of them is a performance upgrade where Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut can be run at 60fps for smoother gameplay. This feature can also be accessed for early versions of Ghost of Tsushima .
In addition to performance upgrades, gamers also get features that take full advantage of DualSense 5 stick technology. Now, every bow pull will give you a feeling of resistance in your hand, as if you were pulling a real bow. In addition, every step of the genie will provide a tapping sensation in the hand where hard or soft will depend on the surface that is passed. A gimmicky feature , but has its own extra value.
Finally, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut on PS5 improves lip sync between the Japanese dialogue and the mouth movements of the characters. In the previous version, the mouth movements with the Japanese dialogue did not match because the developer Sucker Punch only adapted the mouth movements to the English dialogue. For gamers who pay attention to small details, this fix is important.
With all its advantages, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is the definitive version of one of the 2020 Game of The Year candidates . Indeed, the extra content is only about five hours long and most of the new features are more of a gimmick . However, for us, the extra five hours were more than enough to relive the heavenly world of Ghost of Tsushima .
The problem with Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut is more on pricing and upgrading to the latest version if you already have an early version. For five hours of extra content, gamers have to spend hundreds of thousands. On the PS5 console, upgrading to the Director’s Cut version is priced at IDR 439 thousand. Meanwhile, on the PS4 console , upgrading to the Director’s Cut version is priced at IDR 289 thousand. Not a cheap price for the extra content you get in Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut.